Through Thick and Thin
by Minerva300
Summary: Just a fun, lighthearted collections of one shots. Okay, not always lighthearted. Mwah ha ha ha.
1. Mermaids

Okay, so to all of you guys that I promised an update, um, I'm hoping it's okay to just start a new story. I just wanted to start something new, from someone's view that I don't usually do. So I'm starting a collection of little one shots. –Marcie

FUN FACT: I was Ursula in The Little Mermaid

Jess

"You look beautiful, honey," my mother gushes.

"Mom!" I say, pulling away while glancing at my friends' faces.

"Jess!" Becca scolds me," You've got to hold still or I'm going to mess up your eyes!"

"Sorry," I tell her, sitting back in the chair. It's opening night of The Little Mermaid and I'm playing Ariel.

"Darcy's really jealous," teases Emma, leaning against my chair.

"Careful!" Megan smooths my dress, which, of course, she made. The "tail" is green, of course, and it has sparkly scales on top of it.

"How many did you sew on here?" I ask her.

"A hundred," she replies.

"Yeesh," exclaims Cassidy. I laugh, and she glowers at me. Although the play is technically at Colonial Academy, they decided to let some Alcott students be fish- Cassidy is an angelfish. We all agree that it couldn't be farther from the truth.

"Shhh, it's starting," whispers one of the teachers, who I don't recognize, and we all settle down. Soon, the scene where my "sisters" are singing at the concert and I'm not there comes up- I'm next scene.

Adele and Frankie are both cast as my sisters- Adele as Aquata and Frankie as Adella, which is sort of funny. Savannah, instead of trying out, got the title of "Stage Manager." The music starts- my cue- and I say my line "Just look Flounder, the sun, the sand. Isn't it everything you could ever dream of?"

No Flounder.

"Isn't it everything you could ever dream of?" I look off stage and see the girl who plays Flounder on the floor in a dead faint. Suddenly, the angelfish comes on stage. Cassidy.

"I don't know, dude. I don't know if we should be up here," she says.

Oh, no.

"Are you afraid?" I tease.

"Me? Afraid?" Cassidy actually sounds offended.

"How about sharks?" I change the line so it fits into what Cassidy is saying. "Are you scared of them?"

"No way, dude."

"Prove it," We complete the rest of the scene with only the occasional "dude." By that time, Lia is awake and ready to go. (Lia is the original Flounder.)

Halfway through the next scene, I realize my cue is coming up. I station myself by the curtain, and walk out gracefully.

Then I fall off the stage.

OW. I was really hoping this play would go better than it has so far. I groan and stand up, but I'm too petite to climb up without the stairs. Suddenly, I feel hands on my waist. Darcy. He lifts me onto the stage and disappears into the crowd, and the auditorium cheers. The rest of the play goes fine.

Still, this was not the type of opening night I had dreamed of.

When I'm sitting outside Kimball farm with the angelfish, the designer, and the rest of our gang, I start to think that it wasn't so bad.


	2. Graduation Woes

So, here's my second one-shot. I know my last one was kind of cheesy, and kind of dull, but I just wanted to do something light hearted. Anyway, I decided to do a fun fact every time.

-Marcie

FUN FACT: Heather Vogel Frederick is writing book seven soon, so the girls will be seniors!

Graduation

Cassidy

"Oh for heaven sakes, Cassidy," grumbles Becca. I ignore her and keep playing with the necklace that she forced me to wear.

"I don't get why I have to wear this," I complain. She sighs. I face front as the teacher drones on and on. I play impatiently with my white cap, which has this idiotic tassel on it. The tassel keeps bumping into my nose. Annoyed, I flick it away.

Megan is positively glowing. She's going to something called the "Williams University of the Arts", which is supposedly a fantastic "Fashion College", as I call it.

Jess has been accepted into Julliard and some "Veterinarian School". (Another of my names.) She ended up choosing Julliard, and her mother will be in New York at the same time as she will be settling in. Mrs. Delaney wanted to help Jess adjust, and her parents agreed to have Mrs. Delaney accept an acting job that lasts for only a month. Jess pretends to be annoyed, but I know that she's thrilled.

Becca is going to another arts college in New York to be an architect. She's also planning to coach a cheerleading team. Instead of either of the Chadwicks helping her "settle", her grandmother is coming to New York to stay, and Becca is also thrilled. (Her grandmother, like Gigi, loves to shop and always buys Becca things "just because.")

Emma was accepted into Harvard, and I'm pretty sure that Mrs. Wong herself was jealous. She's planning to be an English professor.

From what I hear from Megan, Simon is going to college in Pennsylvania- Pittsburgh, I think.

My friends are all in New England.

I'm going to UCLA.

I got a full scholarship, for hockey. I'll see Courtney, and Grant. I went to see the campus a week ago. I really liked it, but I felt like something was missing.

I look around, at my friends. I won't see them for a long time when I go to California. I probably won't see them for at least a year.

People change in a year.

I won't see Tristan, who's going to Princeton with a part scholarship.

I could have gone too- me, Cassidy, at an Ivy League school. I only got a half scholarship, though. Stanley and my Mother were ecstatic, and offered to pay, but I said no.

I miss California.

Only maybe I don't miss it as much as I miss my friends.

I guess I'm partly going to UCLA for my dad, who went there too. As the teacher begins to call names, I suddenly think about something that my Dad said.

"Cassie," He would tell me," you got to promise me something,"

"What, daddy?" I would ask.

"Never do something without love," he would answer.

My dad followed my mother to California, and they were married. He told me that if he had stayed in Minnesota, he would have never married her.

I promised my dad that I would do what I love.

"Miss Cassidy Anne Sloane," the teacher announces. He holds out my diploma. "Miss Sloane is going to UCLA with a full scholarship…" he begins, but I cut him off. I look at the confused faces of my mother, Chloe, my friends.

"Actually," I say," I'm going to Yale,"


	3. Too Late

All of my one shots have been lighthearted so far, but (I'm sorry) I decided to do a sad one.

-Marcie

FUN FACT: Most High School sports "stars" don't even make it on a college team.

Too Late

Cassidy

Allegra and I were close friends all through High School. When we went to college, she sent me messages, inviting me to join her for vacation. I was busy with hockey, and didn't reply. I finally called her, and found that she was gone.

I guess I was too late.

Emma invited me to a party at her dorm. I drove there, but on the way, I stopped for pizza and talked to a girl I knew from Hockey. I finally left, and drove to Emma's dorm. When I arrived, everyone was gone.

I guess I was too late.

I went to see Tristan perform; I hadn't seen him in over a year. When he was done, I went to say hello, but he barely recognized me.

I guess I was too late.

He invited me to get pizza with his friends, but he spent more time talking to them than me. We were like strangers.

I guess I was too late.

He asked me out, and I said yes. I got caught up in a hockey game. The date was at five. It was five thirty. I went to see if he was still there. He wasn't.

I guess I was too late.

He left for Wyoming. I followed him to apologize. It didn't work.

I guess I was too late.

He got into the Olympics, and I went to see him. After his performance, I went to say hi. Allegra beat me. It turned out that they were dating.

I guess I was too late.

I tried once more to apologize, but they were engaged.

I was too late.


	4. Lost

Megan POV

This. Is. Not. Happening.

When Becca went to who-cares-the-name Minnesota, she met some guy named Theo. Theo Rochester. And now they're getting married.

Maybe I should back up. Anyway, we'd just graduated high school when Becca announced it.

"What?" I had asked, gaping at her.

"Isn't it great?"

"You've barely seen him!" I protested. Becca's ecstatic smile faded.

"Megan, I've been to see him for at _least_ the last six weekends. And over spring break."

"Six weekends! That's _it?_"

Becca had given me a degrading look and stomped out of my all-white kitchen, down the all-white hall, and slamming the white door.

Later that night she called me, to apologize.

"Megan, I'm sorry. I know this must be hard on you…"

I hung up.

And now we're here. Cassidy and Emma agree with me. Jess calls it romantic. And our moms have decided not to say anything. I can tell what they all think, though. My mother definitely disapproves. Mrs. Chadwick doesn't seem to know what to think. Mrs. Delaney and Mrs. Sloane-Kincaid both think it's romantic, like Jess. Mrs. Hawthorne, as usual, is being the supportive one. "You go, Becca," She likes to say.

Seriously though. Becca's eighteen. She's going to architectural school. She's seen Theo, like, eight times. She can't be getting married! Minnesota isn't near as far as England, but it's pretty darn close.

"I say we play some sort of pra…"

"No, Cassidy." Emma says wearily.

"Not even a little itsy bitsy tiny…"

"No, Cassidy."

We're all sitting in my bedroom, trying to think of what to do. So far, no one's having any ideas. I suddenly hear footsteps down the hall and the sound of the door swinging open.

"Oh, hello Jess!" I hear my mother's voice faintly, "If you're looking for Megan, she and the girls are in her room."

I hear the thundering footsteps get closer and closer to my room. Suddenly, the door swings open.

"Guess what guess what guess what!" Jess squeals. After a small pause, Emma gasps. She rubs her left ring finger, looks up at Jess, and passes out.

"Emma!" I yell, worried. Then it dawns on me. I slowly turn towards Jess. Sure enough, a ring is perched upon her finger.

"Jess…" I say. Emma, whom Cassidy has been helpfully dumping glasses of water on, opens her eyes.

"How could you…" She whispers. Then she sits up. "How could you?" She stands. "How _could_ you?" She's yelling now. "How could you?" Jess is crying. She pushes by Cassidy, runs down the hall, and, for the second time in a week, the white door slams shut.

"Megan?" I hear my mother's voice. "Megan, what was that all about?"

I sigh.

"Long story, Mom." And I'm not up to telling it.

Five months later, Becca is preparing to walk down the aisle. And I'm not there. She invited me, but I didn't go. Neither did Emma. I'm not mad at her anymore, but I don't think I can face her. Instead, Emma and I are at one of those cheap restaurants that serve really cheap French fries.

"Are you mad at Jess anymore?" I ask abruptly. "Or Darcy?" Emma and her brother had a falling out after she yelled at Jess, and they've barely spoken since.

She puts her Coke down. "No. It's just hard, y'know?"

"Is Cassidy at the wedding?"

"Yeah. She's a bridesmaid. She even agreed to wear pink."

I smile slightly. "Emma."

"What?"

"Why don't we go?"

She laughs. "Wait, you're serious?"

"We can stand at the back. They'll never know we're there."

She toys with her bracelet. "Well, I do want to see Becca get married." She admits. "And Cassidy wearing pink."

I smile sadly. "To think. Our best friends, and we never talk to them because they got engaged early."

"It was just too much." Emma admits. "Too overwhelming. I couldn't believe my brother didn't even _mention_ it. He said he wanted to keep it a secret, but honestly! Did he think I'd _tell_ Jess?"

"Would you take it back?"

"Yes."

I pull her up and slap a twenty down for our Cokes. "C'mon Emma. We've got a wedding to crash."


End file.
